WordPress Shifts to Annual Major Releases Starting 2025

WordPress Announces Shift to Annual Major Releases Starting 2025

Some significant news regarding the future development pace of WordPress Core has been announced. After a long period of delivering three major releases each year, the team has decided, following discussions among Core committers, to adopt a new cadence – at least for the time being.

What's Changing?

Starting in 2025, WordPress will transition to one major release per year. WordPress 6.8, codenamed "Cecil," will mark the final major release for the 2024 calendar year. Consequently, the subsequent major release will arrive in 2026, establishing this annual cycle for the foreseeable future.

Why the Change?

This decision is primarily a reflection of current circumstances, specifically the significant energy and resources being diverted due to ongoing legal matters. The announcement makes it clear that this isn't necessarily a permanent shift. If these lawsuits are dropped or resolved, the team intends to revisit this cadence and strongly consider returning to the previous three-releases-per-year schedule, which is still seen as the ideal for a fast-moving, community-driven project like WordPress.

Leveraging the New Cadence

While prompted by external factors, this temporary shift to an annual cycle provides valuable breathing room. It allows the core team to dedicate more focused effort towards essential work that can sometimes be deprioritized under a faster release schedule. Key areas of focus will include:

• Reducing technical debt and tackling long-standing bugs.

• Improving performance across the core platform.

• Strengthening support for noncommercial community plugins.

• Investing more time in design, testing, and enhancing the overall contributor experience.

What Stays the Same (and What's New)

It's important to note that this change primarily affects major version releases. Minor releases, crucial for maintenance and security patches, will continue to be issued as needed throughout the year.

Furthermore, to enhance collaboration and ensure alignment across the distributed teams, quarterly town hall meetings for core committers will be introduced.

Looking Ahead: WordPress 7.0

This adjusted timeline naturally impacts future milestones. WordPress 7.0 is now projected for release in 2027. With the additional development time afforded by the annual cycle, the ambition is for 7.0 to be more than just the next version number. The goal is to make it a significant milestone – a thoughtful, intentional release that truly reflects how far the WordPress platform has evolved and sets a clear direction for the future being built.

In essence, while the change in release frequency is a pragmatic response to current challenges, the WordPress project aims to use this period constructively to solidify its foundations and prepare for exciting future developments.